Like many cultural specialties that have been lost, Yongkang Gu Ci is also an endangered species. Now there are no more than five people who can perform genuine Yongkang Gu Ci, including Ying Zhaoming. He lost his eyesight at a very young age. He began learning this art from one of the most famous Gu Ci artists of his time. Today, there are very few people in Yongchang who do not know of Ying Zhaoming.

Ying Zhaoming was especially popular in 1950s and 1960s when TV and cinema were still not popular forms of recreation. After a day's hard work in the fields and their evening meal, villagers loved to get together in a hall and listen to Ying Zhaoming singing those ancient stories. The audience would usually number from thirty to fifty people or two to three hundred at most.

Another is 65-year-old Lang Qidao. Once an official in the cultural department of the local government, Lang Qidao has a passion for folk culture. Distinct from the usual themes of ancient stories, Lang Qidao has developed Yongkang Gu Ci to sing more about current events and modern elements of society. Meanwhile, Lang Qidao is of course quite worried about the present situation of his beloved Yongkang Gu Ci art.

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